The Fallen Kingdom
by sofia313
Summary: Lorenzo had always believed in honor and justice, but after losing his brother and his wife during the brutal attack in the cathedral, he only believes in one thing. Vengeance. AU season 2


Florence, 1478

_"One day you will lead us. As your father led this family and his father before him… Be a better man than your father…. This settling of old scores, has never settled anything… You must be the one to end it… To do good, we have to be good… If there is an army preparing for war, how are you going to deal with it? With words? I still believe that we must strive for a peaceful resolution… In the real world, the world of sin, be a more ruthless sinner than your enemy…. Giuliano! Clarice! No! I'm so sorry, brother… I should have listened to you… Now I want the entire Pazzi family hunted down and wiped out! I want that coat of arms removed from every building, every document, every coin and every surface in this city! I want the Pazzi name expunged from history… You can confess your sins now…. So we get no trial? Did my brother or my wife have one? "_

Jacopo Pazzi hadn't regretted anything. He had seen Francesco and Salviati hanged, he had known that he had lost and yet he had shown no remorse. His last words to Lorenzo had been mocking and arrogant.

_"You've lost everything you ever stood for. You've lost your soul…"_

His soul… Lorenzo didn't really care about that, not anymore. All his life he had tried to be a good man. A man who would make his Grandmother proud. He had believed in honor and justice. He had believed that he could make peace with his family's enemies. How naïve and foolish he had been. Giuliano had known better. He had tried to warn Lorenzo.

Why hadn't he listened to his brother? Why had he been such a blind fool? His brother and his beloved wife had paid the price for that. Clarice… His beautiful Clarice. She had died saving his life. He should be dead, not her. Slowly he lifted the wine goblet in his hand and emptied it. People were cheering on the streets, shouting the Medici name. Palazzo Pazzi was in flames, people had looted it before torching it.

Lorenzo was still in Palazzo dei Signori; he had no intention to go home before every single person who had participated in the conspiracy was dead. What about Guglielmo then? He was Bianca's husband and the farther of her child, but most of all he was a Pazzi. Lorenzo had already sent few men to make sure that his brother-in-law wouldn't try to run. If he had known about the conspiracy and he most likely had, he would soon join the rest of his family. There would be no mercy; Lorenzo would destroy all his family's enemies.

"Messer de Medici?" a male voice suddenly said, cutting off Lorenzo's dark thoughts. Right now his mind needed to be sharp, he needed to concentrate.

"Yes?" he stated, raising his eyes from his wine goblet.

"We found something from the Palazzo Pazzi."

Lorenzo heard a weak sob before two men dragged a young woman in and forced her on her knees before him. Her dark hair was messy, her gown her been torn and she had bruises all over her. Catia. He had forgotten her completely.

"Lo-Lorenzo?" she sobbed.

"Good work," he said to the men, keeping his voice free from emotion. "Leave us, please."

The men obeyed, leaving him alone with the sobbing girl.

"Did you know?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Her teary eyes looked at him.

"What?"

"Did you know?" he repeated icily.

"Know wha…"

"Do not lie to me!" he shouted, startling her. "Why weren't you at the Mass?"

"I… My uncle told me to stay home," she stuttered.

"And he didn't tell you why?"

"No. Please… I… I don't understand…"

"My brother and my wife are dead," Lorenzo stated, struggling to control himself. "Murdered by your family."

The girl stared at him disbelievingly.

"What? How… I don't…"

Lorenzo rose from his seat and yanked the girl to her feet.

"You lived in the same household with them and you say that you heard nothing?"

She was shaking and tears were still coursing down her cheeks. For a brief moment Lorenzo almost felt guilt, but he forced himself to ignore that.

"Speak!" he demanded, grabbing her arms.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked quietly. "My uncle never talked about important things with me."

"You didn't think it was strange that he told you to stay home?"

"I knew better than to question him."

"So you simply looked away?"

"I… What was I supposed to do…"

She winched as he tightened his grip.

"You could have done something," he snarled. "Anything."

She flinched and her breathing fastened, but she didn't say anything. What was he supposed to do with her? Jacopo had kept her as his ward because of her family's fortune. She was his wife's niece, the only heir of the Serristori family. That was the reason why Jacopo hadn't married her off, he had wanted to keep her fortune under his control.

"As you probably know, Jacopo and Francesco are dead," Lorenzo stated after a brief moment of silence.

Catia nodded tensely.

"Yes."

Lorenzo released her and took a step back.

"You will be taken to my home and you will remain there until I decide what to do with you."

"I thought that we are friends," she said quietly.

"So did I," Lorenzo replied coldly. "It seems that we were both wrong."


End file.
